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WASHINGTON, D.C. — TOMORROW, Wednesday, February 2nd at 1:30 PM:
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will hold a video press conference to call for $55 billion to be included in President Biden’s budget request to establish and replicate a Health Force in every community.
Over the last decade, the nation’s public health workforce lost nearly 40,000 jobs, while state and local budgets were slashed by 16% and 18%, respectively.
Members of the inaugural NYC Public Health Corps (PHC), New York City’s new local Health Force, carry out initiatives that target a broad spectrum of public health needs—from helping people get vaccinated to counseling residents about diabetes and depression. The NYC Public Health Corps received $35 million to help establish the inaugural Health Force based on Gillibrand’s efforts during passage of the American Rescue Plan.
Senator Gillibrand is encouraging local governments across New York State to form similar health corps that would benefit from this federal funding and strengthen community health by empowering a knowledgeable workforce that has the trust of local residents, as workers are often from the same neighborhood they serve.
Senator Gillibrand introduced the Health Force, Resilience Force, and Jobs to Fight COVID-19 Act, a public health jobs program to help the nation recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and successfully negotiated its inclusion in the American Rescue Plan.
The American Rescue Plan included $3 billion for a new public health workforce based on Gillibrand’s Health Force legislation to expand the nation’s public health jobs and infrastructure and aid the country’s vaccine distribution campaign.